You Can Breathe
by The.Secret.Handshake
Summary: After her mother dies of cancer, sixteen year old Bella moves to Forks to live with her father; but it seems that her luck can't change. Or can it? All Human. E
1. Chapter 1

I glanced at my face in the mirror briefly, satisfied; I quickly picked out an outfit, my favourite old jeans and a simple black top would do. I mean, we were only going to Port Angeles, Jess and Angela had managed to convince me to come shopping then have dinner at some Italian restaurant they know. When they first asked, I was reluctant; I'm not usually into going out, I have a routine that I pretty much follow: I go to school, I get home, I do my homework, practice my guitar, making dinner for Charlie, and then just do whatever needs to be done before bed. But this time, when Jess and Angela asked, I, surprisingly, said yes. So now here I am, walking down the stairs, instructing Charlie on everything that needed to be done.

"Okay, so you'll need to put the washing on the line once that load finishes, and dishes need to go in the dishwasher. There's some leftover lasagna in the fridge that you can microwave for a minute and eat. Make sure you wipe the table and bench when you're finished."

Charlie just looked at me. "Bella, it'll be fine, you're only going out for a couple of hours, just go."

Again, I felt a slight twinge of unease at the thought of leaving Charlie here on his own, I hadn't been in contact with Charlie during my childhood, I lived with my mother in Phoenix, but when she died of cancer when I was sixteen, I moved to Forks to live with Charlie.

"Are you sure you're fine with me going out, Ch-Dad?" Charlie laughed.

"Sure, Bells, let loose a little." He replied, patting my shoulder reassuringly.

Moments later Jess and Angela arrived with the honk of a horn. The sound blared loudly in the silence that had followed Charlie and I's conversation, I jumped into motion the moment the horn honked, running to get my purse from my closet, retrieving my wallet from my backpack, and running out the door whilst shouting a rushed goodbye. I slammed the door behind me and ran down the walkway, abruptly stopping at the car door. I opened the door and hopped in, honestly a little excited for the trip.

The ride there was quite uninteresting, just Jess and Ang singing along with the radio to a song that was unknown to me, and Jessica gossiping about the newest couples and such. Nothing they were saying interested me, so I just lost myself in the beautiful scenery passing us, until the Jessica started up a conversation that sort of... caught my attention.

"I know, if I could go out with anyone, it would be Edward Cullen." She said, sighing.

I know the Cullen's, I first noticed them when I moved here, sitting alone at a table. It was kind of hard not to notice them. But any attempts at friendship with them had been politely declined, so I'd quickly stopped trying.

Angela laughed.

"Just give up now, Jess." She suggested, rolling her eyes.

Jess had a dreamy look in her eyes. "I know, but he's just so…you know..."

Now I joined in Angela's laughing and rolled my own eyes. "Great description, Jess!" But she was too caught up in her dream to care.

Later on, we arrived at the restaurant, Jess unashamedly flirting with our waiter, and waited to be seated. We were lead to a table, and a couple of minutes later, the waiter returned.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Jess batted her eyelashes.

"I don't know, maybe I'll buy you one." The poor guy, he honestly looked like he was in pain.

Finally we got our drinks and we had a chance to order, me getting the mushroom ravioli and a side salad. After ordering, the girls and I started to talk about where we were going to shop, and what we are shopping for. After a few more minutes, our food arrived, warm and delicious looking, my mouth was watering now. As soon as the waiter set it down, I started to eat it, not noticing how hungry I was before. The food, still hot, was burning my throat and tongue while eating it, but I didn't care.

After a few minutes of the silence that was created by our food, Angela finally said something. "God, it smells like updog in here"

Jessica and I looked at each other confused, Jess mouthing 'updog?' to me. "Umm, Angela, what is updog?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing much, you?" She asked, nonchalantly.

It took me a few seconds, and then I got the joke "AHAHAHAHA!" I exclaimed. "That's hilarious! Where did you hear that joke?" I continued.

"My brother, of course. And I know! SO funny." She answered, laughing.

We hadn't noticed that Jess wasn't laughing at all. Actually, she wasn't even smiling; she had this confused look on her face. She was probably trying to work it out in her head.

"Updog? Nothing much? I'm sorry, guys, but I really don't get it!" Well, we always knew Jess wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the tanning bed.

"Okay... Jessica, she said it smells like 'updog', right?" I started. Jess nodding. "And then I asked what updog is, and she said 'nothing much, you?' get it? 'what's updog' get it?" I explained to her. And now she was laughing, she finally got it!

Our time at the restaurant continued like before, joking around, eating and just happy to be around each other. I tried to not think of the horrible task that lay ahead; shopping.

I, again, questioned the reason to why I agreed to go shopping with Jessica and Angela. I hated shopping with a passion; it had to be the most painful pastime known to man. And now, having to endure that painful pastime right now was the worst ever. We pulled up at the only mall in Port Angeles and I could feel the dread building up inside of me. It was terrible.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so happy you came!" Jessica trilled loudly. Ugh.

"Yes, I'm so happy I can as well!" I said back, faking excitement.

And of course, Jess thought I was seriously excited and pulled Angela and I in quickly. She rushed us from store to store, getting at least one bag from each store. But eventually, it ended(thank god!), and we had to go home.

"Well, ladies..." Jessica said, "I had fun" She finished, smiling. And with that we drove home.

* * *

**A/N: This is a continuation/re-write that my friend Riley and I will be doing of the story Prove To Me That I'm Real, originally by margerita-pizza94. Thank you, and review if you enjoyed it! **

**--Bekki Stretch (:****  
PS: We do not own Twilight or the characters at all.  
PPS: Riley says hi!**


	2. Chapter 2

We had so much fun on the ride home. My favorite part was when Jessica was describing Edward as we drove down my street. "Two words: amazing and gorgeous," she said, streching out the syllables.

Angela and I laughed, and I couldn't help but say, "Dude, that's two words!"

Angela, the voice of reason, said, "Well, it _is_ two adjectives."

"And a verb!" Jess shouted. Angela gave me the is-she-serious look, and I rolled my eyes.

"Jess, that's not a verb." Angela said quietly.

"Well then, what is it?"

"It's a conjuction." I said, still laughing.

"What's that?"

I just rolled my eyes and laughed. "Nevermind Jess. Nevermind." She parked the car behind Charlie's cruiser and I hoped out laughing. "Bye guys! I had fun! We should definitely do that again!"

I was still laughing as I walked into the door to my house. I half expected Charlie to be in the living room, surfing the television for any games that might have been on, but the house was silent as a graveyard. Something felt odd. I tried to put my finger on what was wrong as I walked in the darkness to my room, but I couldn't think of what could be wrong. I hung my purse back up in its little corner of the closet, and put my wallet back in my backpack before I could forget where it was.

I got myself ready for bed, and crossed the hall to Charlie's bedroom door to check on him. I squinted through the darkness, and my stomach dropped when I saw an empty bed. _Don't jump to conclusions Bella_, I told myself. _Maybe he just fell asleep watching a game, and turned off the television because it woke him up. There's no reason to freak out_.

I knew there was no reason to get worried, but I couldn't help it. My stomach flipped and knotted itself as I got closer to the living room. I had to remind myself to breath I was so nervous. I flipped on the light, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the couch was empty. Maybe he went over to La Push to check in on Billy or something.

I walked to the kitchen, and dialed Billy's number. I glanced at the clock, and winced. I probably shouldn't be calling this late. The phone rang for a long time, before Billy's son Jacob picked up the phone and mumbled, "Hullo?"

"Hey, Jacob. Is Charlie there?" I said, worry coloring my tone.

He paused, like my question made no sense to him. "Bella, its ten thirty. Why would Charlie be here?"

Just then, the microwave beeped. 'Enjoy your meal' flashed across the screen.

Oh God.

"Bella? Bella? Are you okay?" I heard as the phone slipped from my hands. I must have gasped or something. The phone clattered to the floor, and the noise sounded like it was coming through a layer of water.

I reached over and flipped the light on. Charlie lay in the middle of the floor, his hands resting on his chest like he'd been clutching it. His eyes were open wide, and stared up at the ceiling unseeingly. I fought the urge to vomit, and walked over to open the microwave. The door swung open to reveal a piece of lasagna.

I blacked out.

Six months later

I walked into my English class, taking my seat at the back of the room, next to the only free seat in the room. For a while after the my dad died, people tried to make conversation; Mike would walk me between classes, always with the same boyish smile, but when he noticed that I wasn't participating in the conversation in any way, he gradually stopped. Jess and Angela tried to get me to go out with them again a few times, but after I rejected them every time, they too gave up trying.

So now I was alone. I sat alone in class, I sat alone during lunch; I even lived alone after the court ruled that since I was so close to turning eighteen there was no point in making me move.

For the first few weeks, everywhere I looked, people were looking at me with that same expression, sympathy mixed with an awkwardness that comes when people don't know what to say. Now, they all just assumed I was okay. After all, it was easier to just pretend nothing had ever happened.

By now I was kind of used to this, and I liked it better this way. When mum died, I was always surrounded. Relatives staying in the house, afraid to leave me alone at home. Friends at school would hover around me protectively, daring anyone to even look at me the wrong way. I knew they all meant well, but it was too much. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. So this time, I was kind of glad to be spared all the theatrics, and if peace and quiet meant total isolation then so be it.

**Hey guys, this is Riley updating. I'd just like to take this opportunity to ask you something... Does Stephenie Meyer do collaborative work with a person she's never met? No. I think this means we are not her, therefore, we own nothing. Especially not Twilight or any of it's affiliates.**

**So anyway, enjoy, and tell us what you think! We love to hear it! Oh, and thank you to: margerita-pizza94, Mrs Fiona Panda Cullen, flower123, and FRK921 for reviewing. And let's all give margerita-pizza a hand for giving Bekki and I the rights to the stroy, and letting us rewrite it. You rock!**

**So anyway, read, enjoy (or hate), and REVIEW!**


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